The riveting inside story of college basketball's fiercest rivalry among three coaching legends - University of North Carolina's Dean Smith, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, and North Carolina State's Jim Valvano - by the king of college basketball writers, number-one New York Times best seller John Feinstein.

The Breaks of the Game

The tactile authenticity of Halberstam's knowledge of the basketball world is unrivaled. Yet he is writing here about far more than just basketball. This is a story about a place in our society where power, money, and talent collide and sometimes corrupt, a place where both national obsessions and naked greed are exposed.

Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream

The 25th anniversary edition of the number-one New York Times best seller and Sports Illustrated's best football book of all time, with a new afterword by the author. Return once again to the timeless account of the Permian Panthers of Odessa - the winningest high school football team in Texas history.

When the Game Was Ours

From the moment these two players took the court on opposing sides, they engaged in a fierce physical and psychological battle. Their uncommonly competitive relationship came to symbolize the most compelling rivalry in the NBA. These were the basketball epics of the 1980s - Celtics vs Lakers, East vs West, physical vs finesse, Old School vs Showtime, even white vs black. Each pushed the other to greatness - together Bird and Johnson collected eight NBA Championships and six MVP awards.

Loose Balls

Loose Balls is, after all these years, the definitive and most widely respected history of the ABA. It's a wild ride through some of the wackiest, funniest, strangest times ever to hit pro sports -- told entirely through the (often incredible) words of those who played, wrote and connived their way through the league's nine seasons.

Got to Give the People What They Want: True Stories and Flagrant Opinions from Center Court

Jalen Rose has never been quiet. Not as a kid growing up in Detroit in the '70s and '80s. Not as the brash, trash-talking leader of the legendary "Fab Five" at the University of Michigan. Not as the player under the stewardship of Hall of Famers Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, and others throughout his 13-year NBA career. And certainly not as a commentator and analyst on ABC/ESPN and Grantland.

House of Nails: A Memoir of Life on the Edge

Eclipsing the traditional sports memoir, House of Nails, by former world champion, multimillionaire entrepreneur, and imprisoned felon Lenny Dykstra, spins a tragicomic tale of Shakespearean proportions - a relentlessly entertaining American epic that careens between the heights and the abyss. Nicknamed "Nails" for his hustle and grit, Lenny approached the game of baseball - and life - with mythic intensity.

Dream Team: How Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, and the Greatest Team of All Time Changed the Game of Basketball Forever

In Dream Team, acclaimed sports journalist Jack McCallum delivers the untold story of the greatest team ever assembled: the 1992 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team that captivated the world, kindled the hoop dreams of countless children around the planet, and remade the NBA into a global sensation. As a senior staff writer for Sports Illustrated, McCallum enjoyed a courtside seat for the most exciting basketball spectacle on earth, covering the Dream Team from its inception to the gold medal ceremony in Barcelona.

Wooden: A Coach's Life

No college basketball coach has ever dominated the sport like John Wooden. His UCLA teams reached unprecedented heights in the 1960s and '70s, capped by a run of ten NCAA championships in twelve seasons and an eighty-eight-game winning streak, records that stand to this day. Wooden also became a renowned motivational speaker and writer, revered for his "Pyramid of Success." The portrait that emerges from Davis's remarkable biography is of a man in full, whose life story still resonates today.

Ball Four: The Final Pitch

When Ball Four was published in 1970, it created a firestorm. Bouton was called a Judas, a Benedict Arnold and a “social leper” for having violated the “sanctity of the clubhouse.” Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force Bouton to sign a statement saying the book wasn’t true. Ballplayers, most of whom hadn’t read it, denounced the book. It was even banned by a few libraries. Almost everyone else, however, loved Ball Four.

Playing Through the Whistle: Steel, Football, and an American Town

Aliquippa, Pennsylvania is famous for two things: the Jones and Laughlin Steel mill, an industrial behemoth that helped win World War II; and football, with a high school team that has produced numerous NFL stars, including Mike Ditka and Darrelle Revis. But the mill, once the fourth largest producer in America, closed for good in 2000. What happens to a town when a dream dies? Does it just disappear?

QB: My Life Behind the Spiral

In the most candid and compelling sports memoir since Andre Agassi's riveting bestseller Open, former San Francisco 49er, Super Bowl champion, NFL MVP, and Hall of Famer Steve Young gives listeners an unprecedented and stunning inside look at what it takes to become a super-elite professional quarterback.

Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN

ESPN began as an outrageous gamble with a lineup that included Australian Rules Football, rodeo, and a rinky-dinky clip show called Sports Center. Today the empire stretches far beyond television into radio, magazines, mobile phones, restaurants, video games and more, while ESPN's personalities have become global superstars to rival the sports icons they cover.

Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success

During his storied career as head coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson won more championships than any coach in the history of professional sports. This is the story of a preacher's kid from North Dakota who grew up to be one of the most innovative leaders of our time. Eleven times, Jackson led his teams to the ultimate goal: the NBA championship - six times with the Chicago Bulls and five times with the Los Angeles Lakers. This book is full of revelations.

Back from the Dead

This inspiring memoir from sports and cultural icon Bill Walton recounts his devastating injuries and amazing recoveries, set in the context of his UCLA triumphs under John Wooden, his storied NBA career, and his affinity for music and the Grateful Dead.

Where Nobody Knows Your Name: Life In the Minor Leagues of Baseball

John Feinstein is one of the most influential sportswriters of the last three decades. In his masterful new audiobook, Where Nobody Knows Your Name, Feinstein delivers a fascinating account of the mysterious proving ground of America’s national pastime, pulling back the veil on the minor leagues of baseball.

Gunslinger: The Remarkable, Improbable, Iconic Life of Brett Favre

Gunslinger tells Brett Favre's full, definitive story for the first time, drawing on more than 500 interviews, including many from the people closest to Favre. Jeff Pearlman charts Favre's journey, from his rough rural childhood and lackluster high school football career to landing the last roster spot at Southern Mississippi to a late-night car accident that nearly took his life. Favre clawed back, getting drafted into the NFL, first to Atlanta, then to Green Bay, where he restored the Packers to greatness and inspired a fan base as passionate as any in the game.

Michael Jordan: The Life

When most people think of Michael Jordan, they think of the beautiful shots, his body totally in sync with the ball, hitting nothing but net. He is responsible for incredible moments so ingrained in basketball history that they have their own names: The Shrug, The Shot, The Flu Game. But for all his greatness, there's also a dark side to Jordan: A ruthless competitor, a gambler. There's never been a biography that balanced these personas-until now.

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike

In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company's early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world's most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.

When Pride Still Mattered

More than any other sports figure, Vince Lombardi transformed football into a metaphor for the American experience. The nine seasons during which he led the Green Bay Packers to five world championships is the most storied period in NFL history. Lombardi became a legend, a symbol to many of leadership, discipline, perseverance, and teamwork, and to others of an obsession with winning. Maraniss captures the myth and the man, football, God, and country in a thrilling biography that has become an American classic.

Lucky Bastard: My Life, My Dad, and the Things I'm Not Allowed to Say on TV

Sports fans see Joe Buck everywhere: broadcasting one of the biggest games in the NFL every week, calling the World Series every year, announcing the Super Bowl every three years. They know his father, Jack Buck, is a broadcasting legend and that he was beloved in his adopted hometown of St. Louis. Yet they have no idea who Joe really is. Or how he got here. In Lucky Bastard, Joe takes the listener into the broadcast booth and into his childhood home. Hilarious and occasionally heartbreaking, this is a book that any sports fan will love.

brianrainstorm says:"I thought you were the guy in Midnight Cowboy..."

Ahead of the Curve: Inside the Baseball Revolution

Most people who resist logical thought in baseball preach "tradition" and "respecting the game". But many of baseball's traditions go back to the 19th century, when the pitcher's job was to provide the batter with a ball he could hit and fielders played without gloves. Instead of fearing change, Brian Kenny wants fans to think critically, reject outmoded groupthink, and embrace the changes that have come with the "sabermetric era".

Saban: The Making of a Coach

As the head coach of the University of Alabama's football team, Nick Saban is perhaps the most influential - and controversial - man in the sport. Unpredictable in his professional loyalties, uncompromising in his vision, and unyielding in his pursuit of perfection, the highest-paid coach in college football has changed the face of the game. His program-building vision has delivered packed stadiums, rabid fans, legions of detractors, countless NFL draft picks, and a total of four championships.

99: Stories of the Game

From minor-hockey phenomenon to Hall of Fame sensation, Wayne Gretzky rewrote the record books, his accomplishments becoming the stuff of legend. Dubbed "The Great One", he is considered by many to be the greatest hockey player who ever lived. No one has seen more of the game than he has - but he has never discussed in depth just what it was he saw.

Publisher's Summary

Sports Illustrated's number-six Sports Book of All Time

A Season on the Brink chronicles the basketball season that John Feinstein spent following the Indiana Hoosiers and their fiery coach, Bob Knight. Knight granted Feinstein an unprecedented inside look at college basketball - with complete access to every moment of the season. Feinstein saw and heard it all - practices, team meetings, strategy sessions, and mid-game huddles - during Knight's struggle to avoid a losing season.

A Season on the Brink not only captures the drama and pressure of big-time college basketball but paints a vivid portrait of a complex, brilliant coach walking a fine line between genius and madness.

If this book was about a general or a politician or even a fictional figure it would be considered one of the great books of the 20th century. Unfortunately this book is about a college basketball coach so the stakes are smaller (do not tell Bobby Knight that) and the figure is real but at times seems stranger than fiction (sorry for using such a cliché phrase) thus it is merely considered one of the great sports books of the 20th century. A title it deserves.

Feinstein is given unrestricted access to Bobby Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers for a full year (practices, flights, locker rooms). It is as much a character study and a book about ‘how badly do you want to win’ than a tract about the misbehavior of Bob Knight. I would recommend this book to anyone (even non-sports fan) as Feinstein reports on one of the most fascinating characters I have ever read about.

I can not watch basketball now without imagining how Bobby Knight would react to a play.

"Next Man Up." - John Feinstein. It's a similar look behind the scenes of an American sports team.

Would you listen to another book narrated by John Feinstein?

Perhaps. But the narration was not the best. Too many up-inflections at the end of the sentences. I have, however, heard much more annoying narrators.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The story of Landon Turner. Having been a college basketball/Bob Knight fan for years, I knew all about it. But it always touches me to hear that story.

Any additional comments?

Great book about a great teacher. It goes way beyond a story about a basketball team. It's a story about how a team is built, relationships are forged, and the consequences of our actions - good and bad. It gives you the outline of how someone turns people into champions.

If you ever wondered how it all happens behind closed doors in NCAA hoops, and you want to hear it from one of the most respected programs from the 1980's, you need to read this book. And if you are a parent with a son or daughter on their way to college sports (not just Basketball), and you want to know what they can expect as an athlete, I can assure you, it'll be something less than what the General had to offer because nobody taught their sport, nobody understood their team, and nobody will ever compare to Mr. Bob Knight.

I grew up in the midwest and had the aura of Indiana Hoosier Basketball in my mind from a very early young age. If you wanted to compete, if you wanted to be the best, you emulated Indiana, and it was because of Knight that they (the Hoosiers) were so respected and feared. I was a Spartan fan, and even I knew the impact Knight was making on the court and how his teams were revered. Scary! And to think that most coaches...coaches, will never come close to the knowledge base this guy has/had, and what he brought to NCAA Basketball.

Sure there are the stories, the tales of his rants, and his chair throwing. Sure, he was fired, but there will never be another Bob Knight. And this story, though nearly 30 years old, will enlighten the reader on how he came to greatness and why he should be put on a pedestal amongst all other coaches. He IS a legend!

Do yourself a a favor and pick this read up. You will not be disappointed!

Other then then bill Simmons book of basketball (which I know bears no resemblance then this story) this is my favorite basketball book. Better then b"Breaks of the Game in my opinion. The storytelling was excellent, and I could feel the players pain as the coach swung back and forth in his mood and his tactile emotional outburst (although sometimes he did come acrossAs almost bipolar in his demeanor). As someone who was only 2 years old when this season happened, and therefore didn't know what was going to happen for each game or the season as whole, I was disappointed when Feinstein would tell the result of the games (or at one point even the season) before the event even happened. This ended some of the suspense that was building up. I know more then anything though this was a look of the characters that made up the season (rather then the actual results of a game) so still a great read. Definitely recommend!

A school administrator and avid reader and listener of books. At least an hour of every day is spent in the car, and that's where the bulk of my listening is done. I tend to listen to books on "faster" mode so I can get through more books!

I am not an athlete nor a huge sports fan, but I do read a wide variety of genres and have enjoyed some athletic nonfiction previously. This book came to me highly recommended, but in the end fell a bit short for me. I was curious about why I didn't find this book as good as others had said and spent a fair amount of time reflecting on that. In the end, I think it is because I struggled with the story itself, and not with the telling of it. I did learn some new things about Bobby Knight, about his compassion, his kindness, and his commitment to education (not just athletics), that impressed me. However, his story and the anger and frustration he showed others, how he treated others, etc.; the good in my mind just could not outweigh the bad. Bobby Knight's story made me sick. Not theoretically or figuratively; actually. I was so torn by how he treated others, by his swings in moods, by the duplicity of his actions, that it made me sick. I wish he was more of all those good things and that those good things were his legacy. Sadly, they won't be. If you love basketball, if you are so curious about Bobby Knight that you have to read this, then do. Otherwise, skip it and find some other nonfiction to enjoy.

I first read this book 15 years ago and wanted to revisit it now that it's on audio. I'm glad I did. It actually foreshadows much of what eventually happened to Knight. The book not only gives you insight into why Knight was such a great coach, but also why he was destined to self destruct. This is must for any college basketball fan.